Joshua 7:10-26

The Sin of Achan

10 The LORD said to Joshua, "Get up! Why have you fallen on your face?

11 Israel has sinned; they have ¹transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the ²devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings.

12 ³Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They ⁴turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become ⁵devoted for destruction.^[a] I will be with you no more, unless you destroy ⁶the devoted things from among you.

13 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ⁷'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the LORD, God of Israel, "There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you."

14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near ⁸by your tribes. And the tribe that the LORD takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the LORD takes shall come near by households. And the household that the LORD takes shall come near man by man.

15 ⁹And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has ¹⁰transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done ¹¹an outrageous thing in Israel.'"

16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken.

17 And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the ¹²Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken.

18 And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, ¹³give glory to the LORD God of Israel and ¹⁴give praise^[b] to him. And ¹⁵tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me."

20 And Achan answered Joshua, "Truly ¹⁶I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did:

21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels,^[c] then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath."

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath.

23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the LORD.

24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the ¹⁷Valley of Achor.

25 And Joshua said, "Why did you ¹⁸bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today." And all Israel ¹⁹stoned him with stones. ²⁰They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

26 And they raised over him ²¹a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then ²²the LORD turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.^[d]

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Joshua 7:10-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 7

For the trespass of Achan the children of Israel were smitten and put to flight by the men of Ai, Jos 7:1-5; which gave him and the elders of the people great concern, both for Israel and for the name of the Lord, which was expressed by Joshua in prayer to God, Jos 7:6-9; when the Lord informed him of the reason of it, and gave him directions for finding out the guilty person, and for the punishment of him, Jos 7:10-15; which directions Joshua followed, and the person was found out, who being urged to a confession made one, Jos 7:16-21; upon which he and all he had, with the things he had taken, were burnt with fire, Jos 7:22-26.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 22

1. ver. 15
2. Joshua 6:17, 18
3. Numbers 14:45; Judges 2:14
4. ver. 8
5. Joshua 6:18
6. ver. 11
7. Joshua 3:5
8. 1 Samuel 10:19
9. 1 Samuel 14:38, 39
10. ver. 11
11. Genesis 34:7; Judges 20:6
12. Numbers 26:20
13. 1 Samuel 6:5; Jeremiah 13:16; Malachi 2:2; John 9:24
14. Numbers 5:6, 7; 2 Chronicles 30:22; Ezra 10:11; Daniel 9:4
15. 1 Samuel 14:43
16. 2 Samuel 12:13
17. ver. 26; Joshua 15:7; Isaiah 65:10; Hosea 2:15
18. Joshua 6:18; 1 Chronicles 2:7
19. Leviticus 20:2; Leviticus 24:14
20. Joshua 22:20
21. Joshua 8:29; 2 Samuel 18:17; [Lamentations 3:53]
22. Deuteronomy 13:17

Footnotes 4

[a]. That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
[b]. Or and make confession
[c]. A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
[d]. Achor means trouble

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.